“Oh no!” Sophie cried. “How can we practice for the dance if I’m stuck to the tree?” She looked at her friends, her brown eyes widened in fear. “What if I’m stuck here forever?”
“Don’t worry.” Bonnie hopped over and patted Sophie with her paw. “We’ll soon figure it out.”
“We just need to be patient,” Katie agreed. “We’ll untangle it one branch at a time.”
“I’ll sing you a patient song, if you like,” the little bluebird chirped, perching himself on a branch in front of Sophie. He began tweeting very slowly and gently.
Polly, Bonny, and Katie began working on Sophie’s tail. Slowly and gently, in time with the song, they untwisted the long, thin willow branches one by one. Sophie watched them anxiously over her shoulder. Sometimes they accidentally pulled her fur, and she had to try hard not to yelp. To take her mind off it, she closed her eyes and thought of yummy acorns instead.
Just as Sophie was thinking of her twenty-second acorn, Polly clapped her paws.
“You’re free!” she woofed.
Sophie opened her eyes. The bluebird was flying around and around in a circle, chirping wildly.
Sophie hopped forward. It felt so good to be able to move again. “Thank you!” she exclaimed in relief. “And don’t worry, I’ll be doubly careful with my tail from now on!”
They all took their positions around the tree, and the bluebird flew up to the top.
“All ready?” he called down.
“Yes!” they chorused.
He opened his little beak and began his beautiful song again. The dance started, and soon Sophie had forgotten all about trapping her tail. As she and her friends skipped in time with the bluebird’s melody she felt herself getting more and more excited.
Tomorrow is going to be so wonderful, Sophie thought to herself. It’s going to be the best day of my—
“AAAHHH … CHOO!”
Sophie jumped as a loud sneeze rang out across the banks of the spring. Then it got even worse. “AAAHHH … CHOO! Cough, cough, COUGH!”
Sophie stopped dancing and looked around. Bonnie was doubled over behind her. Her floppy ears were lying flat and her pink eyes were streaming.
“Oh no!” gulped Sophie.
She could see at once what the problem was. Bonnie’s normally snowy white fur was glimmering silver. Sophie had gotten so excited while she’d been dancing that she’d showered Bonnie in stardust!
“Cough cough cough,” spluttered Bonnie. “I’ve got stardust up my—aaahhh … choo—nose.”
“I’m so sorry,” cried Sophie. “Oh dear, my tail’s causing all sorts of problems today.”
Polly let go of her branch and bounded over. “Don’t worry,” she yapped. “I’ll soon fix it.”
She scampered around Bonnie, wagging her tail, just as she did when she was flicking pollen in the meadows. Flick flick flick, went her tail. Flick flick flickety flick …
Bonnie started to giggle. “It tickles!” she cried as Polly’s tail flicked away at her fur.
The bluebird flew above them, chirping jauntily, and soon Polly had flicked all the stardust away.
“Oh, well done, Polly!” Sophie exclaimed. “You’ve done a really great job!”
“Yes, thanks, Polly,” agreed Bonnie, wiping her eyes dry. “I’m ready to start dancing again.”
“Right,” said Sophie. “And this time my tail won’t cause any problems. I won’t let it!”
So off around the tree they went. Sophie concentrated really hard. She mustn’t shake her tail too much, and she mustn’t get it stuck.
“I’ll tuck it between my legs,” she muttered to herself.
As the practice went on, Sophie began to feel happier and more confident. With her tail tucked tightly between her legs, there were no more problems. But just as they whirled around the tree one last time, Sophie suddenly felt herself hurtling forward.
“Wahhhhhh!” she cried.
THUMP. She fell flat on her face.
“Help!” squeaked Bonnie, bumping into Sophie.
“Uh-oh!” yelped Polly, landing on Bonnie’s back.
“Oh no!” meowed Katie, falling head over heels on top of them all!
“Oh no, oh no, oh no!” the bluebird tweeted as he hovered above.
The four fairy animals lay in a heap on the ground, their paws, wings, and tails in a higgledy-piggledy jumble. Sophie lay at the bottom of the pile, trying to work out what had happened. And then she realized. She’d tucked her tail so tightly between her legs that she’d tripped right over it!
A big, fat tear rolled down Sophie’s cheek. “It’s all my fault,” she wept. “Everything’s going wrong, and I’ll never be able to get the dance right. Never!”